Garbatrage: for sustainable robotics
“Recapturing Product as Material Supply: Hoverboards as Garbatrage,” by Ilon Mandel and Wendy Ju received an honorable mention at the Association for Computing Machinery conference on Designing Interactive Systems in July.
Remember the fleet of trash robots in New York City? They were largely sourced from old hoverboards, leading the paper authors to develop the idea of ‘Garbatrage’, aiming to incorporate sustainability and reuse into the field of robotics and technology development.
From old desktop computers, smartphones and printers to smart speakers, Internet of Things appliances, and e-vaping devices, most of today’s e-waste has workable components that can be repurposed and used in the prototypes that become tomorrow’s innovations, researchers said.
Instead, these devices – along with their batteries, microcontrollers, accelerometers, motors and LCD displays – become part of the estimated 53 million metric tons of e-waste produced globally each year. Nearly 20% of it is properly recycled, but it’s unclear where the other 80% goes, according to a report from the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020. Some ends up in developing countries, where people burn electronics in open-air pits to salvage any valuable metals, poisoning lands and putting public health at risk.
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Quick Reads:
Robotics offers route for US manufacturing renaissance - Financial Times
Amazon unveils new human-shaped warehouse robot, more powerful drone - TechXplore
Humanoid robots face a major test with Amazon’s Digit pilots - TechCrunch
Amazon and MIT are partnering to study how robots impact jobs - TechCrunch
PaintJet puts robots to work in construction and maintenance as labor shortage drags on - CNBC
The US Army needs to ‘unman unmanned’ units by building a drone force that fewer soldiers can more easily fly from more places, general says - Insider
This robot cleans beach sand while leaving the landscape pristine - Interesting Engineering
Of course Austin has a robot tattoo shop now - The Byte
Limitbit Tech’s Raspberry Pi Powered Companion Bot, Doly, Crowdfunds Soon - Hackster.io
Cruise robotaxis are headed to Japan - Elecktrek
Challenge for World’s Biggest Robot Trains is Going Electric - Bloomberg
Korean fried chicken chain turniong to robot cooks - UPI
Restaurant chain Sweetgreen using robots to make salads - CBSNews
Consumers skeptical of robot food prep - Pymnts
Security firms develop drones and robots amid Japan’s labor shortage - NHK
Japanese SPIDAR robot walks with propellers meant for flying & replicates animal movement - EurAsian Times
NVIDIA’s latest AI model helps robots perform pen spinning tricks as well as humans - Engadget
Social loafing found when working alongside robots - The Guardian
Nauticus acquires 3D in $34M deal - Innovation Map
Figure’s humanoid robot walks for the camera - TechCrunch
领英推荐
Bricklaying robots can now build tennis-court sized walls in 4 hours - New Atlas
Autonomous Vehicles Are Driving Blind - NYTimes
AI’s present matters more than its future - The Atlantic
Robotics Events:
26 October - Tech Together: Bridging Communities - Mountain View from InOrbit
27 October - BARS: Bay Area Robotics Symposium - Stanford
30 October - 3 Nov - ICAM, the International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing - Washington DC from ASME
3 Nov - AI x Robotics Hackathon - SF Schematic Ventures
6-9 Nov - Future in Review - Terranea CA from The Strategic Review (I’m hosting a panel with Agility Robotics, Apptronik and 1x)
Want to attend more science based robotics conferences?
Interesting Robotics:
Building a Robot Bartender for Amazon - Hackaday
Researchers designed a robotic backpack that gives you extra limbs - Mashable
Designed by KIMLAB and nicknamed the PAPRAS: Backpack after KIMLAB’s Plug And Play Robotic Arm System, the backpack features four arms and is controlled by the user's upper body movements demonstrating the expansion of the user's physical abilities with extra limbs.
Looking to the future: Artist Sougwen Chung on Collaborating with AI and Machines - SCENE
Neural prosthesis control restores near-normative neuromechanics in standing postural control - Aaron Fleming, Wentao Liu, He (Helen) Huang North Carolina State https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adf5758
Funded Robotics Startups:
Congratulations to Silicon Valley Robotics Member US Positronix for closing their first pre-seed round, $225K. More familiar companies in the funding news for October 2023:
Robots & Startups is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber at Substack.
The Drone Expert ??
1 年Thanks for sharing Andra Keay ! It's great to see that robotics funding is continuing to increase. Robotics has the potential to revolutionize many industries and applications, and it's important to invest in this technology so that we can reap the benefits.??
Certified Scrum Master|| Agile Transformational Life Consultant || Media Officer || Instructional Design || Public Speaking || Author || Agile Facilitator || Digital Literacy Tutor
1 年This is Humanitarian Technology in practice. Taking care of the planet and creating useful tools for society from old waste. Brilliance in motion!